


Church

by Tay (erentitanjaeger)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cunnilingus, F/M, Mild Season 6 Spoilers, Penetrative Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-23 22:57:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14942957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erentitanjaeger/pseuds/Tay
Summary: Love.  She cannot love.  Not here.  Not him.  It is one thing to randomly mate with someone on a mission because she felt the need; she’s not the only one to have done so.  It’s another entirely to fall in love and give herself to him entirely.Nothing would jeopardise her mission more.





	Church

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I had this drafted before season 6 so I'm sorry for the inaccuracies. 
> 
> But THESE TWO CONTINUE TO HOLD MY HEART!! THEY LOVED EACH OTHER SO MUCH!!

_"If you were church, I'd get on my knees_  
Confess my love, I'd know where to be  
My sanctuary, you're holy to me  
_If you were church, I'd get on my knees"_

_\---_

_Emotions are a luxury we cannot afford._

The sentiment, the ideal, runs through Krolia’s head again and again as she lies there, the events of the past night evident in the marks on her skin, her tangled hair, her chapped and swollen lips.  Evident in the man pressed to her side.  Her thighs are still chaffed from where he buried his face between them, the tender parts of herself still aching slightly from the sheer force they had thrown themselves at each other.

With that, Krolia turns her head to look at the man she has recently bedded.

He’s ruggish, almost brutish, with thick, coiling muscles and height to almost match hers.  She had assumed him a warrior when she awoke in his guard- no, his care- all those months ago.  Yet his gentle side is unprecedented, and Krolia quickly learnt he is no warrior.  He is patient and yielding, though strong physically, Krolia found it easy to push him around.  He agreed to most of what she requested easy, without question and without protest.  It had made it easy for them to get along.

At first, she had thought it because he might be afraid of her, what she would do if he said no.  Lately, she began to suspect it was for a different reason entirely.

That he cares.

It had been weeks before they had begun to work together as partners should, and even longer before Krolia finally divulged the nature of her mission and why she had crash-landed on his home to begin with, but the man Krolia had found herself in the company of had been eager to learn what he could about her people and her technology.

He calls himself Kogane, and although Krolia had been informed the human race was rather primitive, either her informant was wrong or he is the exception.  He excels in anything she teaches him, absorbs information like a sponge and is able to harness it just as well.  He had thrown himself into helping Krolia with her work, had been so interested in where it could lead him.

Now, all he seems to be interested in is her.  Krolia found it off-putting, yet slowly, she began to warm, to love, that part of him.  All she can see now is a man who fiercely dedicates himself to the things he loves.  His hobbies, his work, and now, his mate.

Mate.

Krolia finds herself making a small noise in the back of her throat at the word.  She’s not sure what the noise means, or its intentions, only knows that above all else; this should not have happened.

She should not have succumbed to his warm embrace, not have nestled closer to him just because she had been feeling so sorry for herself.  She should not have grown closer to him, only because what she searched for seemed to be growing further out of her reach.  Galra, blade members, did not find consolation in anything else but the success of their mission.  If she was failing, she should have only tried harder to succeed; not fall to her primal urgers and let this human have his way with her.

Krolia feels so much right now, but more than anything, she feels scared.

What will Kolivan say if he were to find out?  What direction could her mission possibly go in now?  Does this man love her like she loves him-

The noise escapes her throat again.

Love.  She cannot love.  Not here.  Not him.  It is one thing to randomly mate with someone on a mission because she felt the need; she’s not the only one to have done so.  It’s another entirely to fall in love and give herself to him entirely. 

Nothing would jeopardise her mission more.

Having made a decision, Krolia carefully slides out from between the sheets.  Kogane’s arm is heavy around her waist, locked tight as it had been when he had first fixed himself to her last night.  Once free, Krolia is quick.  Gathering what shred of underwear she can find, detangling her hair and digging her jumpsuit out from under the bed.  Sometime in amongst the commotion, Kogane stirs.

“Mornin’, beautiful,” he says, voice soft, expression softer.  Expectation versus reality having not ripped him from his good mood just yet.  “Haven’t seen that in a while,” he motions to her suit as she finishes fastening it up to her neck.  His voice is gruff with sleep, his short hair a mess.  His expression peaceful as he rubs at an eye.  The sheet slides off his chest, and all that warm skin on display has Krolia’s fingers twitching around the clasp once again. 

It would be so easy.

So easy to simply rip her suit back off, throw it to the wayside and crawl back in beside her newfound lover.

Lover.

The word keeps her hands securely placed on her hips where she cannot give in to temptation once again like a common, love struck fool.

“I’m going to go search for the blue lion again,” she informs him, curt and to the point.  No question about it.  “There may be caves we might have missed.”

She doesn’t look at his expression, can’t bare to know what he might be thinking at her complete dismissal of their deeds from last night.  It’s silent in the room.  Heavy, suffocating.  Krolia could drown in it.  Eventually, there’s a rustling as Kogane shifts in his bed, before answering.

“Okay.”  Is all he says.  “Holler if you need any help.”

Something inside Krolia shatters.

She’s not sure why she’s surprised.  This is what she wanted, correct?  For them to forget about last night, to go back to how things were before so she could concentrate solely on the mission she had been assigned.  She could not allow herself to feel anything more for this man, so why did it feel so awful to know he agreed?

Krolia opens her lips, wanting to ask, wanting to protest.

Wanting to cry.

Instead, she turns and exits the shack, not even waiting to see if he wishes to accompany her.

Outside, it’s already warm, even more so now that she has forgone the t-shirt and pants Kogane had leant her previously.  She finds herself missing it.  The soft material, the comfort and ease.

The smell.

Krolia doesn’t hesitate further to head for the bike Kogane owns, revving the engine and gunning for the hills.  She remains focused the whole way.  Only thinks of the mission, of her place on this planet, of her reason for being here.  She does not let her mind wander to rough, calloused hands rolling her breasts, or hot, lips attached to her neck while a heavy cock ruts against her wet cunt.

She does not think of any of it.  Does not allow herself to.

The mountains, evidently, are empty.  She checks cave, after cave, after cave.  She re-checks the caves she knows they’ve already searched twice before.  She climbs up to higher and higher points, attempting to gain a signal on her communication device.  Whether it doesn’t work because she’s out of range of her base or because the blue lion is no where around, she can’t be sure. 

Eventually, the sun sinks below the horizon, and she’s left with no other option but to return.  She reasons she could stay out here most of the night.  She has gone far longer without food and shelter, yet it is not in her to avoid confrontation.  She would not have survived this long if it was.  Regardless of how uncomfortable it might be, she has to return to him eventually, if only to tell him she’s still alive.

On the way back, in a last-ditch effort to find something, anything, she takes a detour past a straggle of rocks and peaks.  Again, the pair have checked them all over the past months, but she keeps her device firmly in front of her while the bike takes her across the desert plain.  Expecting nothing, she fights her wandering thoughts yet again.

She had been with partners before, none of actual note, but enough to keep her satisfied on the rare nights she grew bored.  Kogane is nothing special.  Though his physique is impressive and is not just for show, and he had clutched her to himself like she was his last, dying wish.  Like she wasn’t real unless he gripped her hips and fucked up into her with a relentless pace any Galra would approve of.  Even if she had found herself crying, begging, clutching at his shoulders and raking her nails down his back while he filled her as many times as she wished-

The soft ping the communicator gives is almost lost to Krolia.

She slams on the breaks, kicking up a cloud of dust as she does, almost flinging herself from the seat of the bike.  Catching her breath, she gazes steadily at the pale, yellow light emitting from the once dark screen.  It’s faint, irregular, but its there, and it’s the first sign she’s had since landing here.

She’s not sure why she doesn’t head immediately for the signal.  Why she doesn’t simply turn the bike towards the given co-ordinates and search for the blue lion herself.  Perhaps, it’s because she has only made it this far thanks to Kogane’s invaluable help.  Perhaps, it’s her way of showing that she means no hard feelings by what they did last night, that she still wishes to remain on good terms for the remainder of her stay. 

Perhaps, it’s because she doesn’t want to be alone.

Luckily, Kogane is outside as she approaches the shack, sweaty and dirty and covered in grime as he works, muscles rippling under already overworked skin.  Krolia wishes the flesh between her thighs would not throb at the sight of it.  She comes to a stop in front of him, another ploom of dust shrouding them.

“I have a signal!” She calls.  “Get on!”

Thankfully, Kogane doesn’t hesitate, shucking off his work gloves and grabbing his jacket before placing himself on the seat behind her.  She revs the engine and takes off again as fast as the bike will allow.  Kogane’s hands are tight on her waist, but she can feel his caution.  He does not wrap his arms around her like he used to, does not press his chest to her back while they sail across the sand.  She tells herself she has no right to be sad about that.

Krolia concentrates on following the signal.  It’s farther than she ever thought to look, and she reprimands herself for getting so comfortable in Kogane’s care that she didn’t think to venture out of her first search radius.  The signal grows stronger as they ride closer, and finally they reach the mouth of a large cave.  Krolia points her communicator toward it, elated as the signal beeps insistently as them.

“It’s in there,” she claims, breathless, as she launches herself from the bike seat.  She doesn’t have to look to know Kogane is close behind, perhaps just as excited as she is at finally fulfilling her purpose.  He always was so unconditionally supportive of her.

The cave is dark and damp, and echoing through the chambers is the constant ringing of flowing water.  Carvings of lions and kings and gods stand out against the jagged, stone walls.  Coincidence or clue?  Krolia hopes for the latter.  There’s a click, and a beam of light illuminates their path.  Krolia turns to see Kogane holding a flashlight, ever the prepared.  She takes a moment to appreciate him for it.

They venture forth.  She’s thankful Kogane doesn’t seem to find the water in their shoes or the winding paths or even the blackening darkness to be off-putting, only continues to walk forward as Krolia does.  It’s quiet between them, yet both are so eager to find what they’ve been looking for, for so long, it doesn’t feel as heavy as it did this morning.  Something to occupy their minds rather than giving attention to the elephant in the room.

Still, Krolia misses the ease of conversation they’ve always managed to hold while performing their day-to-day tasks.  She supposes she shouldn’t mourn for the loss of their relationship in its entirety; she’s lost far more to a lot less than a heated night of passion.

A constant, high-pitched wail erupts from Krolia’s communicator.

She looks to her left, to her right, only to find nothing but stalagmites, stalactites, and a whole lot of rock.  There’s still the sound of running water, yet no source to be found. 

“I don’t understand,” Krolia voices her thoughts.  “Where is it?”

Kogane is silent.

She bangs the communicator against her palm, trying to shake the answer out of it, frustrated.  “It’s supposed to be here!”

Are they wrong?

“It might be underneath us,” he says eventually.  “We should go deeper to see if we can find a- No!  Don’t do that!”

Krolia takes her ray gun and fires at their feet.

As they fall, she realises that was definitely the wrong decision.  It was rash, unthought through.  It wasn’t like her.  She wants to blame Kogane; for effecting her so much she lost the ability to think at all, let alone through every action she takes.  She wants to blame the blade, for sending her to this incipit planet and handing her a mission of such priority.  She wants to blame the gun for firing at all.

She only blames herself.

All the regret is knocked out of her as she feels herself breaking the surface of a body of water.  Surrounded by the cold liquid, gasping on instinct and choking as her lungs fill.  It takes a moment for her senses to clear only marginally, but enough for her to follow the stream of bubbles escaping from her mouth toward the surface.  She arises to air with a harsh gasp, spluttering and coughing as she treads water, attempting to stay afloat as the ceiling continues to crash down upon her, the communicator still clutched in a vice like grip between her fingers.

Rocks fall in all shapes and sizes around her, churning the water into a frothy mess.  Evading is mere impossible. 

“Kogane?” She calls for her companion.  “Kogane!” she calls more urgently when she receives no response. 

While shards of rock continue to fall, Krolia dives beneath the surface.  Amongst the chaos, she can see a shape not suitable to a chunk of stone, and makes a beeline for it.  Kogane is bleeding, she’s not sure how badly, but the trickle of red seeping from his head is unmistakable.  She wraps her arms around him, ready to race him to the surface.  As she does, as she clutches Kogane’s lifeless body to hers, the communicator slips from her grasp.  She has a brief moment of panic as she watches it sink, watches as the yellow light grows ever smaller, fading into the deep abyss of this seemingly bottomless lake. 

She could still reach it.  She can swim faster than it can fall, but to do so would mean letting Kogane sink in its stead.

Krolia wastes no more precious time making her decision.

\---

It’s some time later before the body beside her stirs.  At first, it’s just a grunt, then a groan, then finally, Kogane’s brown eyes open to meet hers.  They are glazed and red and there’s no mistake the pain within them, but they blink up at her with life she thought had been rid from him.  He coughs and hacks, clearing the remaining water from his lungs Krolia could not pump from him.  Krolia isn’t sure what to say as he does, only remains kneeling by his side.

“You’re alive?” she finally speaks, posing the question as if unbelieving of it.

Kogane’s broad shoulders shake as he continues to gulp deep breaths of air, but nods at her, placing a hand on her knee.  Krolia is thankful for the warmth emanating from it, final proof of her mate’s living status burning through her suit.

“Yeah,” he says, voice choking around the words even as his breathing finally evens out.  “Yeah, m’good.”

It’s completely silent between them, save for the lake churning at their feet and the soft noises that come only from a cave void of known life.  Now that she’s sure Kogane is safe, her mind fills with other thoughts. 

Despite having willingly given up her mission, her source to finding the blue lion and being able to keep it from Zarkon’s waiting hands.  Despite knowing she would have no way of retrieving it if she saved a human’s life, a human who had no prior obligation to the mission at all.  Despite the heavy feeling that has sunken to the bottom of her stomach like her device did to the bottom of that lake; she has no regrets. 

She can’t bring herself to feel any remorse.

She should, she knows.  She should be chastising herself, and risking her own life to dive beneath the lake’s surface once again in order to save the device before the pressure crushes it.  She should be angry at Kogane for weighing her down.  She should be angry at herself for her utter lack of competence. 

She feels nothing except…

Kogane sits up, rubbing his wet hair and peeling the weight of his soaked jacket from his back.  Krolia can see him look to her out of the corner of her eye, can sense his trepidation at the events that had just transpired. 

“Thanks.” Is all he says.  “For savin’ my life.”

Krolia scoffs.

“I was the one who endangered it.”

She’s not sure how Kogane can laugh at that, but he does.

“Well, you could’ve let me sink.  For a moment, I honestly thought you would.”

Krolia turns to him, hurt. 

Any argument she has, however, dies on her tongue.  The look in Kogane’s eyes says it all, and Krolia feels her heart break at the betrayal she reads there.  He has every right to feel so.  Krolia may have made promises to her fellow blade members, but by falling into bed with this human, she has now made promises to him.  It confuses her so, how much she wishes to keep all her promises to him, and only him. 

“The mission…or death…” she begins, as if Kogane could possibly know what that means.  As if to prove her point, he only gives her a confused look.  Water continues to drip from his eye lashes, as if he were crying, and Krolia wishes nothing more than to wipe the droplets away.  “Emotions are a luxury we cannot afford.  Nothing but success has always been what’s expected of us.”  Kogane continues to listen, despite her words providing no answer to his previous insights.  He’s always been good at listening, though.  Krolia should have expected this moment to be no different.  “That’s always been our way, yet here I am, giving up months worth of work to save one, measly human’s life.  As if it’s more important than…”

Her voice trails off.

A heavy, yet warm and comforting hand is placed on her shoulder.  Krolia still can’t bring herself to turn to him.

“No offence to you and your way of life but, that’s dumb.” 

Krolia fixes him with a piercing look, a hiss in her throat and her fists clenched, ready to fight.  Kogane doesn’t raise his own hands in defence however, merely gazes upon her with an emotion she cannot recognise.  It confuses her, and causes her to stop in her tracks. 

“That’s dumb,” he repeats, and continues as if she hadn’t just threatened to claw his face off.  “If you’re not allowed to feel, not allowed to love and be loved, then what are you even fighting for?  What’s the point?” Krolia opens her mouth to argue, only finds she has no argument to give.  “The universe?  The universe means jack shit if you don’t have a place in it outside of this war.”

 

Krolia tells herself she’s reading too much into his words if she thinks he’s pleading her to find her place beside him.

“Look,” Kogane removes his hand from her shoulder.  Krolia wishes he hadn’t.  He scratches the back of his neck, and fixes her with a look of concern.  In all the ways he’s looked at her over the months, he continues to give her expressions Krolia didn’t know she was worthy of.  “I would never push you to start something with me you don’t want; it’s fine if last night was just last night.  All I’m saying is; your team talks shit.  If anything, wouldn’t having something, someone, to come home to- to return to- make fighting as hard as you do, all the more worth it.”

He’s said a lot in only a short amount of time.  Krolia had never considered any of this, and it scares her how much she believes him to be right.  There is so much truth in his words, and Krolia is now trying to undo hundreds of years of lessons and practices that say otherwise.

“I failed…” Krolia says in place of anything else she can think of.  “I lost the communicator.  We- I- will never find the blue lion.”

Krolia looks to Kogane, because she wants to find what she has never allowed herself to feel.  She wants to find comfort, for him to tell her it’s not her fault when she knows otherwise.  She wants that gentle nature he’s extended to her countless times extended to her again.  She just doesn’t know how to ask for it.

Kogane shrugs, fixing her with a smile so soft and outspoken, it peels away the layers of Krolia’s heart until it’s left pink and raw.

“Don’t think of it as you failed.  Think of it as you found one more place the blue lion _isn’t._ ”

He’s unbearably daft sometimes, Krolia thinks to herself, but she’ll be damned if she’s never wanted anyone more.  She’s made so many bad choices recently, time to make a few more.

She twists her body, grips his face in between her hands, careful of her claws, and smothers his lips in hers.  She’s only allowed a split second to feel fear that Kogane may no longer return her feelings, but those fears are burnt alive when he immediately wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her hungrily back.  Tongues entangle.  Teeth graze lips.  Krolia’s arms find comfort in resting along the breadth of his shoulders, and Kogane doesn’t hesitate to use those muscles she admires so much to wrestle her onto his lap.

In a moment, she’s bearing down on him.  He grunts.  It’s deep and vibrates against her lips and Krolia kisses him deeper in appreciation.

The cave floor is harsh on her knees, even through her suit, but when Kogane cups her cheek and angles her face so he can kiss her deeply, fiercely, she only cries out and responds in kind.  She’s so thankful he knows how to work her suit already, his fingers quick to find the clasp and twist it so it releases. 

The blade suits are designed for convenience and swiftness; quick to get in to and quick to get out of.  With the release of that small clasp, her suit loosens over her body and is infinitely easier to pull from her shoulders.  She yanks her arms from the sleeves, and wastes no time in unfastening her underwear along with it.

Kogane groans at the sight of her as she is bared to him.  She’s as much muscle as he is, and she wears it with a confidence he envies.  He’s quick to place his mouth on her, kissing hotly, wetly, between her breasts.  Pressing bites to each as his arms twist and tighten around her.  Krolia isn’t sure she gets why he’s so fascinated with that part of her anatomy, but it succeeds to please her, her clit beginning to throb, hot and wet, while he lavishes her with attention, so who is she to judge. 

His lips are replaced by deft fingers, cupping her breast while his mouth moves to the pulse on her neck.  Krolia bares herself to him without hesitation, her hands in his hair, claws delicately coaxing at his scalp, encouraging him to lave all his affections upon her.  All the while, she lets her hips find his crotch and presses her own flush against it.  It causes them both to pant and moan, animalistic in their actions as they reach and grope at one another.

“You sure you don’t wanna wait ‘till we get back?” Kogane gasps against her lips when she forces them up to hers again.  Though his words say one thing, his actions speak another.  He still cups her breast with a bruising force, the other hand sliding beneath the suit still pressed to her bottom half, beneath even her underwear there, and grabs at her flesh.  She keens, rocking her hips.  He’s hard against her now, his still wet pants leaving nothing to the imagination as she glances between them.

“I need you now,” she whines, gasps, pleads against him.  She promises he can have her anyway he wants, knowing anyway will be most agreeable to her regardless of the position.  She promises she’ll make up for the smarting bruises and stinging cuts they’ll be sure to receive from performing this act in an unkempt environment, but as Kogane strips himself of his own clothes, underwear and all, she guesses he would never argue the urgency in which they hold each other.

Now naked and pressed so tightly against one another, Krolia moans, unabashedly and without shame, letting her cries ring out throughout the cave, bouncing off the water and stone walls.  His cock is so impossibly hot against her.  It’s hard and rigid and as she grinds herself against it, chasing that delicious friction, she can’t help but throw her head back and revel in the pulsing pleasure that sings through her nerves. 

Kogane’s hands have shifted from her breasts to cup her bottom, digging his hands into the smooth skin and bringing her hips against his again and again.  His lips are hot and moist and delicious as she continues to hold him in a bruising kiss.  Her hands are fisted in his hair and she wonders if he’ll have small marks amongst his ratty strands of hair. 

She knows neither of them care what marks they make on one another, as long as they are the ones to make them.

“Rut me,” she gasps against him, now sufficiently wet, dripping even, and she’s delighted to find he is too.

“You know I’m no animal,” Kogane chides, because he had said the same thing the night before when she had presented him with the request.

Krolia hums, scoffs even, against his cheek.

“I feel your actions say otherwise.”

He lifts her.  Impales her.  Fills her.  Fucks her.

Maybe Kogane does not have all the leading actions and placating anatomy another galra might have, or even another member not of this world, but for a human, he makes it work for him.  He may be a human, but he’s _her_ human, and she finds that sentiment reaches deeper, grows harder, than any other partner performing this same act ever could.

“Yes,” Krolia gasps, weak to his hands and his hips and his lips.  Her whines are quiet, building deep within her.  His own grunts of pleasure and effort are scorched against her skin.  His nails dig into her flesh.  She offers the same.  She finds herself acting on instinct as she bites into his neck, eyes rolling into the back of her head as she feels him twitch inside of her.

“Shit, Krolia!” He moans, and Krolia never thought her name to sound so sweet. 

“More,” is all she demands.  Kogane’s brown eyes are fixed with a deep determination, the same determination she can see mirrored on her own face in his irises.

Krolia briefly wonders when Kogane had the time to flatten his jacket on the cave floor, but it’s a welcome feeling beneath her back as he lays her down.  He’s careful with her, a contradiction to his previous movements, but he never strays far as he pushes her thighs apart and finds a pace so quick and bruising, Krolia curls her toes.  Her arms are fastened around his chest, her breasts pressed firmly to his, his thrusts powerful and life-shattering as he rocks inside of her.

He’s definitely a worthy lover, and Krolia will fight the entire universe for her right to keep him.

Her skin begins to grow hot under his facial hair, as sparse as it is.  The constant friction it gives as he bends his neck to rub his face upon her breasts has her gasping, unrealising such a small nuisance might feel so pleasant.  She holds him there, while he’s buried to the hilt.  His hips are firm and sure as they continue to hit true.  Even if his hands were not busy keeping her apart, his unrelenting thrusts would play the part.  She arches her entire body against him as her release builds and builds fast.

He finishes inside of her, gasping, hot and red faced against her neck.  Her claws have already left sizeable marks all over his skin, not including the ones she had made the night previous, but he seems to pay them no mind as his seed is spilled into her waiting cunt.

Yet, she’s still so warm there.  Still so raw and the throbbing is bordering on painful.  She whines, gasps, grapples against the floor as he pulls himself from her.  He’s quick to shush her, quick to cup her jaw and kiss her in a way that only fans the flames still burning her alive.  Ever the gentleman, he’s quick to kiss down her body.  His lips leave a trail of scorch as he settles between her thighs as he did so many times last night, and seals his lips over her clit. 

Krolia screams.  She arches her hips, bucks wildly, and finds a pleasing rhythm as he fucks her tongue against her need, her movements meaning she can grind against him at a languid pace.

Her vision swims, her panting coming quick and short.  She won’t last much longer, but as Kogane sucks and sucks hard, she discovers that was never his game.  He licks hard, sucks harder, his beard rough and satisfying against the skin of her folds.  It’s only a matter of time before she has to fight from clamping her legs around his head, less she crush him.  Kogane is quick to hold her hips to his mouth, giving her the last kisses she needs as her release crashes through her and slowly, like pouring cream from a jar, trickles from her body.

She lies there, trembling, Kogane weakly kissing back up her body until he’s face to face with her again, their bodies pressed along each other.  The meagre light given to them by whatever source lies in this cave causes his eyes to glow and his crooked smile to seem iridescent in the scant light.  Krolia wants to hold that smile to her heart, so it can warm the remaining parts of her body.  The look Kogane gives her now, her smile to keep.

He kisses her lips, no urgency this time, only a sweet taste on his tongue he shares with her while they collect themselves, placing the pieces of their hearts back where they belong, though some pieces stray to each other.

\---

The shack has very little lighting at night.  Only one bulb, in need of changing, hangs from the ceiling, casting its yellow light upon whatever surface its faint glow can reach.  It’s unflattering, and Krolia finds when it flickers, it can give her a headache.  Kogane has been meaning to change it for months.  Yet now, plastered together as closely as they are, the weak bulb unable to spread light even to their little corner, Krolia doesn’t mind being unable to see.

Kogane’s hands wander her skin.  Sometimes they trace the shape of her breasts, sometimes they trace the shape of her marks.  They loop around her body, each stopping either side of her centre.  Kogane finds it thrilling to start on one side of her, let his fingers run lightly around her side, over her back, and let his other hand take up the job as it finishes the trail back to her front.  Krolia sighs, enjoying the attention.  It’s neither urgent nor complacent, simply there.  Warm and comforting and undeniably hers.

They haven’t said much since they arrived back at Kogane’s home.  They found they didn’t need to.  Sweet kisses and another heady round in bed more than made up for the lack of verbal exchange.  Krolia realises all the words she had been using to justify falling for this man, all the arguments that had been roaring through her head since this morning, have finally ceased, and she’s left only with a man who loves her. 

Her man who loves her.

Kogane’s fingers stop their ministrations, deft fingers fluttering over the markings covering her neck.  Krolia lifts her eyes, where she had been starring admiringly at his chest, confusion evident in her expression.  Kogane looks like he is the one fighting with words now, like he is now the one arguing within himself.  Krolia waits, patient as she has ever been trained to be.

“Stay,” is all he says, and it is then that Krolia realises he was not struggling with several words, but with only one.

Krolia knows, logically, realistically, she cannot.  Her own self-discovery does not mean the blade will suddenly be sending her their blessings with requests for a wedding gift registry.  No, in hindsight, she still has a mission to fulfil.  Perhaps no longer here, but somewhere out there.  Kogane had made it very clear back in the cave what she was now fighting for, and to stay would mean his doom. 

To go would mean her own.

She climbs atop him.  Pressed flat to his chest, his arms ensnared around her waist, their noses touching and their lips so close the thought of his wet mouth on hers flashes in her memories.  She looks to him, a hand tracing his delicate features, opening her mouth to explain all the reasons he has given her to leave, as many as he has given her to stay.

“Zarkon himself could not pry me from my place beside you,” she says instead. 

Then they’re embracing, somehow impossibly closer than they already are.  She breathes in his scent, fresh and clean from the water in the cave, man and musk underneath it all.  Comfort and home so dominant it makes her heart ache.  She claws at him, begs with her entire being, physical and no, that she can make the only thing this man has ever asked of her a reality.

Krolia thinks she’s found the greatest force in the universe in that tiny, little, rickety shack in the middle of the desert on a primitive planet called Earth.

She’ll soon find there are much larger forces, larger than only one human, that will give her all the reasons to keep fighting.

**Author's Note:**

> Church by Fall Out Boy.
> 
> Come scream season 6, Krolia and sheith with me on twitter! @KinkyKeithy


End file.
